Beijing based Reuters Sports Reporter Nick Mulvenney gets the ride of a lifetime in the passenger seat of F1 Champion Jenson Button’s race car, for a whirlwind tour inside Beijing’s iconic Bird’s Nest stadium. 

Video credit: Kitty Bu and Wang Shubing

If you want to gauge the current state of China's construction boom, look no further than Hong Kong's dynamic neighbour, Shenzhen.  Defying the searing heat of the Chinese summer, construction workers are busily building a state-of-the-art stadium for the 2011 World University Games.

I was there last week on a five-day tour organized by Guangdong Province, and the stadium was the first stop, indicating how intensely proud officials are about the "Lotus Flower" stadium.

The 60,000-seat venue looks strikingly similar to the Bird's Nest national stadium, the world's largest steel structure and the centerpiece at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Now, local media boast that the Shenzhen stadium, designed by a German architectural firm, aims to outshine the Bird's Nest because the engineering is said to be even more challenging. 

The whole games village project is a powerful symbol of municipal pride. It is set to cost a whopping 4.1 billion yuan ($600 million), all of which will be financed by the city government of Shenzhen.

It's true that Shenzhen, one of China's richest cities with a municipal budget of 902 billion yuan ($132 billion), should have no problem finding the cash. And you can argue that all this construction isn't a bad thing to have going on during an economic downturn. But looked at another way, it still seems a waste.

China is no better than other countries in finding uses for prestige sporting venues. It is just a year since the Beijing Olympics, but the Bird's Nest already looks deserted. When I visited it last month, paying 40 yuan ($5.82) to enter, it seemed folorn. There were few visitors. Two giant TV screens showing the opening ceremony from the Olympics did their best to remind people of its glory days. If that is what has happened to the iconic Bird's Nest, how promising could the long-term plans be for Shenzhen's "Lotus Flower"?

China has seen those sporting events as the best opportunity to showcase its economic muscle to the world, but China is still a very poor country and this money could be put to other, perhaps better, uses. In Shenzhen  itself, tens of thousands of migrant workers have recently lost their jobs and are in need of retraining. Even though the market seems to have come back, many migrant workers have struggled to find new jobs because they do not have the right skills.  

What else can you do with 4.1 billion yuan?  Well, you could establish as many as 10,000 schools to train migrant workers and their children. That might be a better "trophy" for Shenzhen than another deserted mega stadium showing its past glories on a video loop.

Photo caption: The National Stadium in Beijing, also known as the Bird's Nest stadium, shown here on July 3, 2009, nearly a year after it was the centerpiece of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. REUTERS/David Gray

My abiding memory from these Games  will be watching Usain Bolt give everything he had to break a world record most of us had thought unbreakable.

Michael Johnson’s time of 19.32 in the 200 metres had never been seriously challenged before the Jamaican sprinter, a headline writer’s dream, decided it was finally time to get down to some serious work.

Bolt had won the 100 metres, and broken the world record, with ridiculous ease on the Saturday to set the Games alight. He was running so well that he had time to ease up well before the line and still record a commanding win.

Wednesday was different. Again, he had the race won well before the line, thanks to a brilliant bend, but there was no question of him slacking off as he hurtled down the straight. I could see him grimacing with pain as he neared the finish line before looking over to check the time.

The clock stopped on 19.31 but times are often rounded up or rounded down and there was a second or two to wait before we would find out whether he had broken Johnson’s world record or merely equalled it.

Those seconds seemed a long time for me — heaven knows what Bolt must have been feeling — but eventually the time was rounded down to 19.30. It was an incredible achievement for the Jamaican and a memory I will treasure.

This is the seventh and last in our series of Beijing snapshots — moments from the Games that will live long in the memories of all who witnessed them.

Read Snapshot Beijing, 1: Matt Emmons, by Erik Kirschbaum here.

Read Snapshot Beijing, 2: Matthias Steiner, by Sophie Hardach here.

Read Snapshot Beijing, 3: Usain Bolt in the 100m, by Paul Majendie here.

Read Snapshot Beijing, 4: Matthew Mitcham, by Emma Graham-Harrison here.

Read Snapshot Beijing, 5: Fair play gets forgotten, by Lindsay Beck here.

Read Snapshot Beijing, 6: Michael Phelps, by Derek Parr here.

PHOTO: Usain Bolt of Jamaica looks up at the scoreboard as he crosses the finish line to win men’s 200m final of the athletics competition in the National Stadium at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 20, 2008. Bolt set a new world record with a timing of 19.30 seconds. REUTERS/David Gray

Usain Bolt of Jamaica won the Olympic 100 metres on Saturday, shattering the world record in the process with a time of 9.69 seconds.

Bolt thumped his chest in celebration as he crossed the line, after leaving Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago (silver) and American Walter Dix (bronze) trailing at the Bird’s Nest Stadium.

Asafa Powell finished out of the medals, while Tyson Gay was eliminated in the semi-finals.

Bolt had looked capable of running an extremely fast time as he ambled through the heats and so it proved in Beijing on Saturday as he pulled off a win that will live long in the memory.

But what do you think of his achievement? Let us know in the comments. We’ll have more on this later, but for now, here’s another photo:

Reuters photos: Gary Hershorn (top), Jerry Lampen (bottom)

The athletics is underway, at last, and the three favourites Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay all came safely through their heats this morning.

This is the race everyone will be talking to in the build-up to Saturday’s final so we thought we’d give you the chance to sound like an expert without have to leaf through the record books.

Mitch Phillips, swimming’s favourite reporter , tells you five things you knew but may well have forgotten about the best race in the world. Click on the video above.

We’ve given our blog a new name to go with its fresh focus on the Games, now that the bulk of our team of reporters, photographers and TV crews have assembled in Beijing.

Our reporters are blogging regularly with news and views from the greatest show on earth and we’ll be showcasing the pick of reports from Reuters and around the web.

We’re hoping for plenty of input from you, too. Comments are open on all posts so please give us your views on anything and everything Games related, whether you’re here in Beijing or following the Olympics on TV or the web.

If you are in China, we’d be particularly interested in your first-hand experiences. How are you coping with the humidity? Is the smog getting to you? And how are you enjoying the Games? 

I’m also adding a blogroll featuring sites we like, so if you have a Games-related blog, send as a link and I’ll look at putting it in our list.

Kevin Fylan, Beijing

I know this has been out for a while, but with just a few days to go to the start of the Games I couldn’t resist a link to this exhibition of the 2008 Olympics in Lego.

The Bird’s Nest looks fantastic… Must have taken Olympic levels of patience and dedication. Hats off.

Photo from Design You Trust – well worth a look because there are plenty more pix there.

In the unlikely event Parkour ever becomes an Olympic sport, at least the hosts won’t have to build a venue.

“The art of moving” is an urban pastime that involves getting from one point to another as efficiently and quickly as possible and overcoming obstacles using only the human body.

It started in the suburbs of Paris but has spread to cities around the world and, like many Western imports, has ended up in Beijing.

Du Yize, 22, is a student the Beijing Film Academy and was always much keener on sport than he was on schoolwork. He spent a long time training in the the Chinese martial art of wushu, or kung fu, before one day he came upon pictures of Parkour enthusiasts on the internet and decided to look into it.  

The result is a 12-strong club operating out of the Academy.

“Parkour is a kind of sport and at the same time, Parkour it’s a kind of fashionable show. You hear lots of passers-by shouting ‘Whoa!!!’ in amazement when we are somersaulting.” 

Du says his club has incorporated elements a distinctly Chinese element into their version of Parkour.  

“If someone is good at Chinese kung fu, then they have good basics to do Parkour very well,” he said. “Our Parkour is a combination of this fashionable sport and traditional Chinese kung fu. Anyone who wants to learn Parkour in our club needs to learn some basic skills of kung fu first.”  

Du says he thinks Parkour has some practical advantages, too.  ”In my opinion Parkour is not only a sport, it could help me protect myself,” he said.

“For example, if there was a fire in my building, I could get out through a window and jump from a very high floor.”

The combination with elements of kung fu adds another advantage, he thinks.

“In foreign countries, young people who are good at Parkour are able to get away when someone tries to rob them. People who learnt our version of Parkour could fight the robber as well.”

Pictures of Du (in the black jacket) and his club at various iconic spots around Beijing in January by Reinhard Krause. 

    It’s a month to go! So, we sent our reporters out onto the street to speak to ordinary Beijingers to find out how they and the city are coping.

    ”I didn’t have much interest in the Olympics before the Tibet riots. After that I became to think: All right. If you guys are so keen to make us look bad, we’ll have to get things done even better. After the earthquake, I felt really sad and at one point even thought that it might be good not to hold the Games any more. But the reality is the country has poured in so much manpower, materials and money to prepare for the Games. As the Chinese saying goes, ‘there can be no turning back once the arrow is on the bowstring’.” - Zhao Qian, 26, a public relations officer for a European company

    “The Olympic Games is a national glory. I really look forward to it. Beijing has changed a lot in the past few years. The roads have become wider and the city cleaner. Terrorist attacks? I am not worried about that. Our country is strong enough and those who operate in the dark for bad things will be scared.” - Zhang Quanyi, 45, taxi driver

    ”I am not going to watch the Games in the stadiums and I am not able to. What can I do with the 700 yuan ($102) I make every month? I also have to pay for my daughter’s education.” - A female street cleaner in her 40s on her morning shift to clean a street outside the Chaoyang Park in eastern Beijing, where Olympic beach volleyball matches will be held.

    “It might be inconvenient during the Games as I cannot drive my car everyday, but I am happy and excited about the approaching Olympics.”- Zhou Wenjin, 46, a government worker

     ”Bags must be checked when you take a subway, batteries cannot be sent by express mail. We are excited and extremely happy for the holding of Olympics Games, but it dwindles day by day.” - Jiang Yueming, 28, a graduate student in Renmin University

    “I don’t feel the environment is becoming that much better. I’m not sure whether those security checks are efficient, but I’m sure I will cut some of the family’s unnecessary travels during the Games.” - Li Guang, 35, barber

   ”Security checks and traffic restrictions at that time will certainly affect my commuting, but I understand the government. Safety is after all the most important thing. If there have to be more troubles, then let there be more troubles. My father-in-law’s father-in-law really really wants to watch the matches, so we bought some tickets, mainly to fulfil our filial obligations. Personally I’d rather watch the matches on TV at home.” - Wang Nan, 26, a white-collar worker who already spends nearly three hours commuting every day.

(Additional reporting by Laura Liu and Ella Li.)

Photos (from top): A woman takes a photo of the National Stadium, also known as the ‘Bird’s Nest’, on a hazy day in Beijing July 8, 2008. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside. Visitors pose for a picture amid haze and smog at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. REUTERS/Reinhard Krause. Visitors walks past martial arts poster inside the Beijing Olympics Main Press Centre (MPC) during its opening in Beijing July 8, 2008. With 62,000 square meters of working space, the MPC in Beijing is the biggest press centre in Olympic history. It will be the central work place for the 5,600 accredited journalists and photographers covering the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. REUTERS/Claro Cortes IV

Photographer David Gray took his weekly trip down to the Bird’s Nest today and fortunately after couple of horribly polluted days, the skies were relatively clear. 

On top of the ’nest’ he captured this inflatable structure.

The stadium is now effectively shut down to visitors because of the secrecy surrounding the preparations for the opening ceremony, which everyone is expecting to be a spectacular affair.   

Could this could be something to do with that? Or a security tent? Or the mother of all bouncy castles? 

Picture by David Gray, who else?